Illinois

4 Chicago Election Judges Arrested; Prosecutor Sorry for Profane Voice Mail in Sib’s Campaign

Updated: Four Chicago election judges were arrested today, including two who were allegedly drunk, one who was accused of yanking a provisional ballot out of a voter’s hands and another claimed to have groped a female election judge, reports Fox News. A Chicago Sun-Times article provides more details about the…

Nov 3, 2010 12:31 AM CDT

7th Cir. Axes 2 Conrad Black Fraud Verdicts, But OKs Another, Plus Obstruction Conviction

In a partial victory for Conrad Black, a federal appeals court has axed two “honest services” fraud verdicts against the media mogul. However, it upheld a verdict that he was guilty of another kind of fraud, as well as an obstruction conviction, reports the Dealbook blog of the New York…

Oct 29, 2010 10:35 PM CDT

Malpractice Plaintiff Wins $103M Verdict Against Baker & McKenzie

A former client has won a $103 million malpractice verdict against Baker & McKenzie and one of its Dallas lawyers. S. Lavon Evans Jr. had claimed in his Mississippi lawsuit that the law firm had represented him at the same time it represented his partner in an oil-rig drilling business,…

Oct 26, 2010 12:12 PM CDT

Law Firm Accused of Planting a Spy and Turning a Lawyer Against His Client

A lawsuit accuses a law firm representing the Archdiocese of St. Louis of getting the secretary for a rebel Catholic parish to act as a spy and manipulating the parish’s one-time lawyer to turn against his client. The suit claims Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale and the lawyer, Roger Krasnicki, “violated…

Oct 21, 2010 12:11 PM CDT

Six Wildman Harrold Partners Unsure When Firm Will Allow Them to Leave

Updated: For 15 days, six partners at Wildman Harrold were hoping that the Chicago law firm would allow them to jump to Barnes & Thornburg sooner rather than later. Wildman Harrold requires partners to give 90 days’ notice before leaving the firm, and it uses the parternership provision to prevent…

Oct 12, 2010 1:51 PM CDT

Defunct Debt Collection Law Firm Found Liable for Nearly $24M

A shuttered debt-collection law firm has been found liable for $23.7 million in a suit claiming it withheld money from a onetime client: an Illinois agency pursuing debtors who defaulted on student loans. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission had claimed the firm, Friedman & Wexler, failed to turn over at…

Oct 4, 2010 11:31 AM CDT

Law Prof’s Tweet Cited in Brief by Second Amendment Lawyer

On Thursday, University of California, Los Angeles law professor Adam Winkler was tweeting about his favorite Tony Curtis movie and an undocumented immigrant housekeeper hired by a California gubernatorial candidate. But Winkler is getting more high-profile notice for an Aug. 16 tweet because it was cited in a brief filed…

Oct 1, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Cuffed to Prostitute, Lawyer Agrees to Take Her Case for Free, Earning a Disciplinary Censure

Arrested for allegedly visiting a house of ill fame and handcuffed to a prostitute in the back of a Chicago police vehicle last year, attorney Steven Koukios agreed to do some business for free. He said he would represent the woman, who had been arrested for soliciting an undercover officer…

Oct 1, 2010 9:30 AM CDT

Woman, 68, Shot Boy, 12, in Her Yard, Is Hailed as a Hero; He and Pal, 13, Are Criminally Charged

For over a year, an elderly Chicago woman says, she was harassed at her South Side home by two boys, now 12 and 13. When the retiree returned home from grocery shopping Tuesday, she found two broken windows, saw the pair running away and called police. Then, as she was…

Sep 30, 2010 5:25 PM CDT

Tossing an Egg Gets Defendant Tossed in Jail

A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for throwing an egg at the judge overseeing the case against him for missed child support payments. Agim Demiri will only have to serve half the sentence, the Daily Herald reports. The egg he tossed on March 24…

Sep 28, 2010 1:28 PM CDT

Longtime Prosecutor Faces Ethics Complaint for Sarcastic Closings, Blog Comments

An ethics complaint accuses a longtime Chicago prosecutor of lying to a blogger about a past disciplinary probe and making sarcastic closing arguments. Laura Morask, a Cook County prosecutor since 1987, faced an earlier ethics complaint over her courtroom arguments, but an inquiry board panel closed the probe in 2006…

Sep 23, 2010 11:44 AM CDT

Case Closed Against WSJ Reporter Arrested in Courthouse Interview With Blago Lawyer

A federal court in Chicago has dismissed a misdemeanor case against a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in July while trying to conduct a courthouse lobby interview of a defense lawyer during the high-profile corruption trial of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Douglas Belkin declined to comment, but…

Sep 15, 2010 9:34 PM CDT

Illinois Chief Justice Discloses Parkinson’s Disease and Retirement Plans

The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court has disclosed he has Parkinson’s Disease and will retire next month. Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, 69, told his colleagues about his diagnosis Monday and issued this statement: “I don’t want to do anything to hurt the court or the people it serves. Right…

Sep 14, 2010 12:53 PM CDT

Top County Prosecutor & Executive Assistant Indicted in Political Corruption Case

An indictment in a political corruption case was unsealed Friday against the top prosecutor in a suburban Chicago county. McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi, 67, was accused, along with his executive assistant, Joyce Synek, 62, of conspiring together to misuse government staff and equipment for his campaign work between…

Sep 13, 2010 6:21 PM CDT

New ‘Lower Cost’ Alternative Law Firm Adds 5 More Seyfarth Attorneys

Last week, a start-up employment boutique in the Chicago suburbs had an attorney roster of exactly three—its name partners, all of whom formerly practiced for many years at Seyfarth Shaw. But by the start of business this week, the fledgling firm more than doubled in size, with the addition of…

Sep 9, 2010 1:26 AM CDT